Rain
by GameOverGambit
Summary: [Modern bookstore AU] May we meet again, in a better life. Lucina stumbles upon a tiny bookstore on one rainy day. She figures maybe not everything is doom and gloom when storms are involved. Rated T to be safe. Art does not belong to me, it belongs to it's respective artist.


**As to not keep you from the story the author's not has been placed at the bottom. Enjoy.**

 _"May we meet again, in a better life."_

 ** _linebreak~_**

She thinks it all began when she entered that bookstore.

It had been raining that day, and she had been careless enough to forget her umbrella at home. Thankfully Severa had been there on her way to school, or else she would have arrived to all her morning classes soaked to the bone.

Now, on her way back home, she looks for temporary refuge hoping to wait it out until the storm cloud passes.

The bell attached to the top of the doorframe chimes happily as Lucina steps through into the small establishment. She takes a deep breath to appreciate the smell of dusty old books and hidden knowledge. She's looks around the small bookstore, and finds herself quickly adoring the organized chaos of books and encyclopedias. There isn't anyone at the register at the moment but she figures it couldn't hurt to look around.

She goes down an aisle of books, running a finger through every spine. She recognizes some old classics; some Shakespeare, Poe, and even a little Jack London. She's surprised that there are some unrecognized titles in what would appear to be the fantasy section (her favorite genre).

"Ribald tales of the Faith War huh?" she whispers, taking a dusty book off its shelf and skimming through its contents. Another epic story about a war that would tear apart a country at the seams, filled with its share of tragedy and romance and all types of mythical creatures that used to inhabit her story books as a child. She found herself unconsciously holding the book closely to her chest; even now, as an 18 year senior, ripe and ready to graduate high school, these stories still hold a special place in her heart.

"Hello. Is there anything in particular you are looking for today?"

Lucina yelps and drops her book, spinning on her heel quickly to face the intrusive sound. She can feel her grip on her book bag tightening, and her body readying itself to slam said book bag over somebody's head need be.

She makes eye contact with him and she is overcome with such a strong sense of vertigo that it almost sends her tumbling to the floor.

"Whoa!" A pair of strong arms hook themselves under her arms, preventing her from making collision with the floor and steadying her. She feels whoever is holding her up struggling to keep her up from the suddenness, and the thought of becoming a burden to someone snaps out of her sickness and quickly back onto her feet.

"Apologies..." Lucina mutters, rubbing her temples with both hands. Whoever was holding her up then still had their hands on her, probably worried that if they let go she would go tumbling again. So she steps back and catches her breath.

"I'm so sorry, I honestly don't know what came over me there..." Her eyes, which she had been squeezing shut, flutter open and she finds herself sick to her stomach again.

He doesn't look much older than her, maybe there was a year or two difference. But the first thing that drew her attention where his eyes. They are ridiculously rich, pools of hazel brown where she could sense a clever glint swarm beneath them. They are searching her face now, full of concern for her wellbeing. Snow white hair falls a bit into his eyes and her brushes it away and he extends a careful hand towards her. He's wearing a pair of tan khakis that complement the simple button up red flannel shirt which sleeves are rolled up right above his elbows.

She's so distracted analyzing him in his entirety that she hardly notices that he has a hand on her shoulder. The moment they make contact, there's a shock that runs through her, nothing painful but it runs through her body and she finds that the presence of this young man amplified tenfold. She guesses that he must have felt something too, because he retracts his hands slowly.

"Hey you don't so hot ma'am. Would you like to take a seat?" He doesn't do much to wait for a response, he just grabs her hands slowly, his eyes still on her face, searching for any sign of disapproval as he leads her gently towards the back of the store, where there a couple of stools.

She takes a seat, slowly because she still feels slightly off balance, and he watches her throughout all of it, ready to catch her again if need be. She hates being a burden on anyone, so she speaks up.

"I'm fine now, really, there isn't need to worry."

The young man shakes his head. "No, you still look a little pale." He snaps his fingers. "Wait right there I have just the thing." He retreats into what seems like a little kitchen, and she can hear the movement of pans and cups and he emerges soon after, holding two cups of lemon tea.

He hands her one, and as she reaches out for it, her vision zeros in on the full body mirror behind him.

She finds that it isn't them in the reflection. Well it is them, but they are dressed oddly. She's wearing blue armor it seems (is that a cape?) and sword is strapped to her side. The young man isn't wearing flannel and khakis anymore; he's in a dark cloak, covered in mysterious symbols. The cup of tea he's handing her had transformed into some dusty old book with a lightning bolt on the cover.

She blinks and that reflection is gone. She grabs the tea and mutters her thanks.

She brings the cup to her lips and sips. The hot tea does well for calming her nerves and she can feel her mind finally coming into focus. As she quietly sips the tea, Lucina can still feel his eyes on her.

"That must have been some kind of dizzy spell. Does this happen often, or could it have been some kind of other reason, maybe stress..."

She sighs, and fiddles with the handle of the tea cup. "It could have been stress. As a graduating senior, I guess I have a lot on my mind..." She looks up at him and she finds him smiling. As small as it was, she finds that smile to be particularly disarming.

"Well, I'm just glad I was there to catch you." He chuckles lightly and places his tea cup on the table. He extends a hand out to her. "The name is Robin."

She takes his hand and gives him a firm handshake. HIs hands are soft and warm. "Lucina. I guess we really did forget all about introductions there huh?"

"Yes well things are a lot calmer when one of us isn't in the midst of collapsing. You should take better care of yourself there."

"Yes of course." She slides off the stool and onto her own two feet. He doesn't seem all that comfortable allowing her to stand on her own, but he doesn't stop her. "I would hate for you to spend more time on me than on your store, so I'll just see myself out now."

Thunder booms at that exact moment and she immediately feels embarrassed. He looks out his store window, where the rain is coming down hard and storm clouds begin to move in.

"I would highly advise against that. You should stick around for a while and see if this storm passes." She doesn't mention that that was her original plan from the beginning. "As you can see, I'm not all that busy at that moment." He gestures to the empty bookstore with his tea cup. "You wouldn't be a bother, in fact I could use a little company."

"I don't know..." She hesitated because she didn't want to bother this guy any more than she needed to, but every other part of body screamed at her that this is where she was supposed to be.

He grins and just shakes his head. "Come on, no need to be shy. I'll humor you." He gently takes her hand and leads her slowly back towards the fantasy section. She doesn't pull away, and enjoys the feeling of her hand being enveloped by his warmth.

 **Linebreak~**

"Ah the _Ribald tales of the Faith War_ huh? You have great taste!"

With the enthusiasm that only someone with a great passion for books (or an absolute nerd) could muster, Robin guides her throughout the entirety of the fantasy section that she had first been drawn to.

"May I recommend this one, _Awakening_ it's called, although I may be a little biased here because it one of my favorites." He pulls a book with a blue lining, on its cover a picture of twin dragons over an elegant golden sword. "Although the beginning covers different wars they partook in, it follows a tactician and prince as they struggle to seal away an ancient dragon with the help of a time traveling princess. It's subplot galore, with interactions between the Prince's entire army and a tragic love story between the tactician and the time traveling princess!"

"Tragic? What makes it tragic?"

"Now you would just have to read to find out now wouldn't you?" He tosses a wink at her.

She snatches the book from his hands, grinning, and holds it to her chest. "You know, you're awfully good at selling your product."

"It helps when you already know a lot of the books here like the back of your hand."

"Quite the nerd I see." She says as she follow him as he scans aisle upon aisle of books. "That makes me wonder though. I don't mean to be rude or anything of the sort but aren't you a little young to be living out the rest of your days running a little bookstore?"

"I work here, running this store I mean." He seems to be a little embarrassed now. "My boss, Anna is her name, well she's bit ambitious and she owns several businesses. She obviously doesn't have time to run them all so she hired me to hold down the fort for one of her smaller establishments."

"I see." Lucina says, skimming now through the some outdated science books.

"Now, um, if you don't mind me asking now, didn't you say you were graduating? A senior in high school correct?"

"Mhm." She opens up to a page in an encyclopedia from a couple years ago, skimming through the information on this animal profile on the tiger. "I'll be graduating next month."

"Ah, well that's good. You have any plans for college or for the future?" He leads her this time to the history section as her mind goes into panic mode. The truth was that she really didn't have any plans for the future at all; it had been on her mind recently more than ever. With graduation around the corner she'd have to make some life altering choices really soon and the thought made her sick to her stomach.

"I haven't given it much thought." She lied quickly; she'd been thinking about it for so long and still she couldn't figure out what she wanted to do with her life. "I've gotten accepted into a few universities and colleges already but I'm really considering my options."

"Oh I see. I just wondering, because you see, when I'm not working here I'm a full time student at Kamui University." He pulls out a small handbook and naval warfare. He hands to her. "It's an interesting read if you're into the technical part of war. Ahem, but anyway I'm majoring in political science and minoring in psychology, just because I find it really interesting how different people think."

"Kamui...?" She says quietly. Didn't she receive an acceptance letter from there...?

"Anyway my point is, um, I was the same way when I graduated high school just a year and a half ago. Don't stress on your future too much, it'll get to your head and you'll panic. There's always time to build your life up as you go, if that makes any sense." He's locked eyes with her now, warm brown gazing into endless blue. There's such concern in his eyes and she wonders what she ever did to deserve such consideration from someone who was still essentially a stranger to her. "So, take care of yourself, there's no need to put too much pressure on yourself."

He turns away now, blushing. "Sorry, I've been told that I have a habit of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. It just a little tip I guess. Oh snap, quite some time has passed. Rain seems to be letting up too, so it might not be much longer until you are able to go home."

She just smiles at him and just pushes him along. "I'm sure we have plenty of time. Now please, continue along with your in depth tour of this fine establishment."

He smiles right back, and takes her hand again. "That's great. Now I'm sure I have some college survival handbooks somewhere around here. Trust me, those things are life savers."

 **linebreak~**

Lucina doesn't know if it's a blessing or a curse, but the storm doesn't let up for at least another three hours. During those three hours she can't exactly recall the last time she's had such heart felt, genuine fun with a person before.

To most, of course, an old bookstore wouldn't be the ideal location to have fun but that would definitely not be the case with Robin around.

Being the only worker there and knowing most every book in the entire store had its perks. He always seemed to know exactly what kind of book she was into, and they'd even read the first chapter together. When they were finished with the tour of the entire bookstore, he quickly decided to have a little more fun by finally opening that attic he had been meaning to clean out for some time now. Needless to say, he pulled out some interesting things: replica swords, mini dragon figurines, and even a strange, but elegant butterfly mask. He even decided to spook her a bit by telling her some of the supposed paranormal experiences he's had here (Lucina was a brave girl however and she wasn't even remotely fazed try as he might). Now, as they winded down, they sat, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the counter, reading the most outdated books Robin could find.

"I know I'm going to sound like an absolute geek when I say this, but outdated medical textbooks crack me up." He said, futilely trying to hide his laughter as he closed a book on various medical surgeries. "I mean some of the processes are absolutely ridiculous compared to modern medicine."

"You're right. You do sound like an absolute geek." He nudged her a bit with his shoulder.

"Hey, um, Lucina." She tears away her gaze from the book she was reading to him. He looks serious. "Thank you for this. I know that I was supposed to be humoring you but I feel like I got so much more out of this than you did. Not many people show up to this store, much less get an in depth tour of it. So thank you for putting up with me today."

"Uh, no it wasn't a problem at all, I had fun today..." She said slowly, quietly because she was wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to such heartfelt gratitude. "I am very glad I met you."

At this they both went scarlet and Lucina immediately regretted it. She looks out the window instead of him, where the rain is still coming down with ferocity. "Hey Robin, would you happen to know what time it is?"

"Hm, oh yea, it's nine o'clock. Almost closing time."

"What!?" Lucina scrambles to her feet and Robin jumps up right after her. She goes on wild book bag hunt and he is right at her heels. "Oh my god Mother and Father must be so worried, I didn't mention that I'd be late today!"

"Here!" Motioned Robin as he ran up to her with her book bag.

"Oh, thank you Robin, really, for everything but I really should be going."

"Hold on a sec." Robin runs to the back and emerges a couple moments later, wearing a long black coat with golden lining (now where had she seen a similar coat before?), a book bag over his shoulder and an umbrella in his right hand. "I'll walk you home. I noticed you hadn't come in with an umbrella before."

"I don't want to burden-"

"No, no really I insist. It would be my pleasure." He was already guiding her out to the door, shutting off lights as he went.

"Wait!" She pulled out the copy of _Awakening,_ the book that Robin had recommended to her. "I almost forgot to pay for this."

He dismissed that comment with the wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's on the house."

She didn't have much a chance to argue, as he had already pushed her out the door and into the bitterly cold rainy night. He opened up his umbrella as he locked up the main door to the bookstore.

"Okay, my umbrella is rather small. You're gonna have to stay close."

She nods and sticks close to him, shoulder to shoulder, bare hands grazing each other. Lucina is once again enveloped by this familiar warmth of his and for some strange reason, she feels like crying because there is just something so god damn _right_ about this and she can't put her finger on it.

 **linebreak~**

They arrived at her home rather quickly, since Robin was so dead set on getting her home as soon as possible, risking his dryness along the way just to give her more room under his umbrella.

They arrive right at her doorstep (at this point she's sure she can see her dad peering at them from the second story window) and she has to yell over the pounding raindrops.

"Thank you so much Robin! Thank you for all of today!"

"Not a problem at all!"

There's an awkward silence now. "Um, well I'll be going now, you take care of yourself!" She doesn't know what came over her she tugs on his sleeve to keep him from turning away.

"Really, Robin! I'm not quite sure how to thank you, since you've helped me so much more than you've realized..."

Out of all the time they've spent together today, this by far has to be their most awkward moment. She quickly releases him and hurries to work on the lock on the door.

"Well then uh-"

It was like a flash: his warm lips on her ice cold cheek. That tiny peck was enough to set her entire body aflame. Her face was scarlet and the most she could muster was to turn to him and squeak out a tiny "Huh?"

"Is that how one does that? Ha, ha, ha? Um I'll just be going now!"

He's off at the speed of light, already speed walking down the street and back down the road they came. "Remember to give the bookstore a visit from time to time okay?!"

And that's all she managed to hear before he's out of view. She slumps against the door, suddenly feeling tired but unable to contain her giant smile. The door behind her opens up and she is face to face with her father.

"Father, hello, pleasant evening today isn't it?"

"Lucina...just who was that just now?"

"Well you see-"

He pulls her into the house before she can finish explaining. "It was getting late Lucina, I had no idea you'd be gone this long. I was about to start a manhunt to search for you. And don't doubt me, I would've done it, I would have called up Vaike and Gaius and we'd search every inch of this town." Yes, that sounded like him.

"I'm sorry to make you worry Father. I had just wanted to wait out the storm and time just flew by and that man just kept me company..."

" _Kept you company?_ " She could see his blue eyebrow twitch.

"No, no, no not in any way like that Father. It's just, I wanted to wait out the storm. You wouldn't want me to have caught a cold now would you?"

He sighed, defeated. "I suppose so." He grabbed her into a giant bear huge. "I'm just glad you're home safe." He leaned in closer to her ear. "Now if that young man laid so much as a hand on you without consent, we'll both go kick ass in the morning, now what do you say?"

She just smiles and pushes away from him. "I swear it isn't like that..."

"Nonsense!" says her mother, strutting out of the kitchen holding up a foil pie pan. "Come Lucina! We must get to work immediately on the pie that is sure to win him over!"

"Pie?" Her father perks up at the word. He mother comes rushing over, pushing her into the kitchen.

"Mother please."

"Now I know children tend to forget but I was your age too Lucina! I know well enough by now that a way to man's heart is through his stomach. So that's why today I'm going to show you my super secret pie recipe. It's guaranteed to work!"

Needless to say, she arrived at the same bookstore the very next day, a slice of pie in her bag and very much ready to discuss the entirety of _Awakening_ , which she had red throughout the night.

 **linebreak~**

 _Lucina can't help the tears that flow out of her eyes. His warm hands are wiping each one away as he smiles down on her. She grips tightly onto his coat but it's not helping._

 _He's already starting to disappear._

 _Lucina sniffs loudly to keep her tears in check and locks eyes with him. "Yes, wherever, whenever you are, I'll be there. Just make sure you're not late."_

 _"I promise." And she crashes her lips onto his just as the rest of his lower body fades away into the wind. She could feel them plunging, Grima's body soon to crash onto the surface._

 _She leans her forehead against his, and whispers, just barely. "Don't go where I can't follow." She can see him nod just before he disappears completely._

 _He's gone._

 **Whispers "Dork Robin headcanon"**

 **Anyway still really stuck on that writers block but I'm working on it. One of the longer pieces I've worked on since I'm too scared of commitment to start a multi chapter fic. Anyway apologies in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes, just kinda wanted to get this out as soon as possible. Meh, I wan't take up your time but there may or may not be more OTP AU's coming from me heh. Also please review it makes my little heart happy.**

 **~GameOverGambit**


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